Blank-casting machine



Nov. 8, 1927.

1,648,415 R. 1'. MCGEE BLANK CASTING MACHINE Filedl June 12. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l El E 4] ZX y 32 .35

Nov. s, 1927. '1,648,415

R. T. MCGEE BLANK CASTING MACHINE Filed June 12. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E E. 326% J3 J6 251820 7 2] ZZ j INVENTOB CTI Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

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lRICHARD"JJ, MCGEE, OF VHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA.

BLANK-casarme Macninn Application med Jane 12, 192e. serial no. 115,459.L

'A' further object of the invention is to provide a machine by means of which may be produced blanks of uniform thickness, as distinguished from blanks having concavities in their upper sides or faces. I-Ieretofore, the sprue has been sheared from the blankimmediately following completion of the molding operation andwhile the metal was still in its plastic or softcondition, and the result of this has been to .form central concavities orV irregularities in theV upper faces of the blanks or slugs, since such shearing of the met-al' While hot causes the sprue to carry with it, or to tear-oif,.some of the metal Which belongs in the blank.

@The present invention thus aims to permit the sprue. to vremain undetached until the metal has become thoroughly cooled and set, and also to feed to the blank metal from the sprue during contraction of the blank, thereby to produce a blank .of uniform thickness throughout.

The invention further aims to provide a machine ofthis type Which effects clean cutting of the sprue'so as to assure that the blanks shall have truly flat upper faces.

Still further, the inventionaims to provide novel means for ejecting the blank or slug and novel means `for disposing of the sprue. 4With these and other objects invieW, lthe invention resides in the novel features. of construction and arrangement of parts which Will hereinafter be fully described, reference being had to the accompanying draivings,in Whichi Figure 1 is a top plan view of the invention f Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 8-3.Fig.2; i

Figure 4 is a detail plan `view of the cam plate;

Figure disk; Y

Figures 6. 7 and 8 are enlarged detail sections on lines 6-6, 7 7, and 8 8, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail plan view of 011 .0f tll vbOCtOm moldingY plates;

5 is a similar vieiv of the guide F F E? f Figure 10 a detail view 'ofvone of the sprue blocks g' Figure 11 is an enlarged detail plan View' of one of the moldingand'sprue shearing plates; 1 d

Figure 12 is an enlarged side elevation of a fragmentary portion of the table, showingza block pivoted thereon. i

Referring to said drawings, 1 indicatesia i portion off the frame of a metal melting and feeding mechanism of any appropriate construction. A substantially L-shaped bracket 2is secured to the base of theframe and' has a vertical shaft 3 journaled therein. A ratchet Wheel It` is keyedon said shaft 3 and has its teeth engaged by a pavvl 5 pivoted'on one kend ofV an L-shaped arm 6, 'which is mounted for free rotary movement on said' shaft 3. The other end of the arrnf`6` Vhas pivotal connection With an operating rod 7 which may be reciprocated in any suitable manner. v i

YA circular'camplate 8 is rigidly mounted `in horizontal position on the upper end ofY the bracket 2 by means of screws 8', `as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, "said plate 8 being formed with a continuous outer'cam groove `9l and` an inner cam groove 10and, further,being formed with two relatively spaced openings 11 and 12 at points more or less closely adjacent to its peripheral edge. A circular guide disk 13is formed with a centrally located square hole 14 in which is received la squared upper end .portionBa of the shaft 3. Thus mounted, provision is made for rotary movement of the disk 13 with the shaft .'y

Slidaloly mounted in substantially rectangular openings `16 provided therefor inand extend radially of,the plate 13 are thei'bottom forming'plates 15 ofa mold. each thereof being provided With a roller 17 which l engages-in the'inner groove 10 of vthe cam plate 8. The plates 15 are further provided intermediate theirjends with elongated slots 18 and adjacent lto their outer ends with openings 19. Combined molding and shearing plates 2O are superimposed on said plates 15. each thereof provided with a roller 21 which extends through the slot v18 ofthe underlying plate 15and into theouter cam groove 9 of the cam platev 8. Said plates 2O are further provided With openings 22 of the samev diameter as the openings 19 of said plates 15. `A top plate 23 vis superimposed `on the ne i plates 'and has a central squared opening which is receivedv over the square upper end 3a of Vtlieshaft 3. vSprue blocks 24, pivotally mounted on blocks which are` fixed on the periphery of the plate cr table 23,..have

their inner faces conforming to the peripheral curvature of the latter and have in said .faces recesses 26 which constitute sprue openings. Springs 27 vare employed to tension thesprue blocks forinorinally holding same in closely seated relation to the periphery of the table, as shown Fig.v 10 of the drawings. It will be noted that,'as shown in Fig. 1, there is onesprue block 24 for each 0fy thekpairs of relatively slidable plates 15 and 20 located in the openings 16 of the disk 13. lEach block 24 carries on its top `faceV adjacent to its yfree end a roller 28 which is engageable Awith the outer edge or Yface 29 of a stationary cam 29'which is suitably vmounted in stationary overhanging relation to the table 23, but which is herein shown as attached at 30 tothe cam plate 8. As shown in Fig.l .7, a vertically depending Vknock-olf pin 31 is carried by one end of a lever32 which is pivoted intermediate its ends to a standard 34 carried by the frame 1, as shownat 33. A coil spring 35 encircling the pin 31 is interposed between a col-v lar 36 fixedv on'said pinand the cam plate 37 through which said pin 31 is vertically movable, said cam plate 37 being mounted on the l plate 8 and presenting an inwardly vdirected 'cam edgeto the roller 28. The rear end ofl said leverv 32 occupies overlying seated relationto the'upper end of a vertical rod 38 i which vis vvertically slidable inthe standard 34. The lower end of the rod 38 is seated upon the end of a leverv39 which is pivoted at 40 to the frame 1 and which is arranged to be rocked by any suitable lmeans l(not shown). Y

In practice, since the ratchet 4 has a num l' ber of teeth correspondingto the number of "7 `pairs of plates '15 and 20, each forward reciprocating movement of the operating rod 7 `acts to advance the disk 13 and the top plate 23 relative to the stationary plate 8 throughout adelinite distance, as y450, and such` movements successively present `the outerv ends of the various radially shiftable platesA 15 and 2O in registeringfalinement withthe outlet of a pouring spout V41V by ywhich the molten metal "for castingl is delivered.

In the charge receiving position, the platel is so disposed relative to the overlying plate 2O that an unapertured portion thereof underlies and closes the lower end of the blank' opening 22 of said plate 20,

. thus iny effect, forming a .mold bottom.

The pair of plates 15 and 20, following reception of a chargeof molten metal, effected through the Vgate constituted by the recess ,V26v in the adjacent sprue block 24, is advanced by intermittent movementsthrough- The ing 11 ofthe cam'plate. vIn this movement from the charge receiving and coolingposi-r tion, shown 1n Fig. 6, to the position of the f parts shown in Fig. 7, eiected by traverse of the roller 21 in the offset portion 9'LL of the cam groove 9, shearing of the sprue, contained in the gate 26, from the upper face 'ofthe partially cooled blank is effected.

kDuring said outward movement ofthe plate 20, in which shearing off of the sprue is effected, as aforesaid, the roller 28 of the sprue block is firmly engaged by the cam 37,` thus to 'maintain said block againstinovement for ii'isuringthe making vof a clean cut in such shearing.

of a lever 32, thereby depressing the front end of lever 32 and therewith the knock-out pin 31, thus positively ejecting the molded and sheaied blank through'openings 19,22 and 11. carrier, the roller 28`of the sprueblock 24 moves into engagement with the cam 29, as

shown in Fig. 8, whereby the sprue block is swung away from disk 23, as shown in' Fig. 8, thereby releasing the detached sprue.- The sprue at this time is located in register with the opening 12 of the cam disk 7, 'andrdrops by gravity throughsaid opening. Y i

From the foregoing it will be seenthat anl intermittent movement is provided,'and

that, following iiitrodu'ction'in a mold of a charge 'of molten'nietal, the latter is allowed to stand for a length of time sutiiciently long Vto become chilled and'set, whereupon the sprue is sheared Vtherefrom and the blank ejected.

Further, it will be noted remains undetached throughout the period of contraction of the blank due vto cooling, so that additional metal therefrom may be furnished as required to produceuniformity 'of thickness in the blanks or slugs, and also to insure the production of a smooth cut ineffecting detachment of the sprue. Y

As shown in Figs.- 6, 7 and 8 the outer wall of the recess 26 is inclined downwardly and inwardly for facilitating' Clean shearing the sprue. y y

What is claimed is'- 1. In a blank castingmachine, a pair-'ofy moldmeinbers, one of said members having a blank molding space therein and the other being adapted in one positiQIl .t0 form abot- Atthis timethe lever' 39 is rocked to raise the rodl 38 and lift the' tail that the sprue Y 115- Uponcon'tinued movement of the first mentioned member relative to said feedbottom closingmeans so that, When the molding` means occupies registering .relation to said feeding means, the closing means Will occupy closing position, andV so that, When said ejecting means is approached, said molding means is moved relative to said feeding means to effect shearing of the sprue from the blank, and when the molding means registers with the ejecting means theclosingV ymeans will occupy a position in which the bottom of the molding means is open for releasing the blank.l

3. In a blank casting machine, a mold comprising relatively7 shiftable plates, v a mold carrier, means to drive said'carrier, means to feed molten metal into the mold. blank ejecting means located at a distance from the feeding means, and means to actuate said plates for shearing the sprue from the blank before the mold reaches the ejecting' means.

il. In a blank casting machine, a mold comprsing` relatively shifta-ble members, a carrier for said mold, means to feed molten metal into the mold, means for shifting one of the mold members to open and close the mold space in the other member, and means to actuatethe last mentioned member relative to the feeding means for detaching the sprue. 5.7In a blank casting machine, molds, a mold carrier, sprue blocks movably carried by the carrier, means to effect movementof the unolds relative to the blocks 'to shear the sprue, and means to operate the blocks to release the sprue. i

6. In a blank casting machine, a plurality of molds,l a mold carrier, sprue means carried by the carrier, and means to actuate the molds to shearthe sprue from the blanks While in the molds.

7 Ina blank casting machine, `a movable mold, a movable bottom forl the mold, sprue means, and means to-move the mold to shear the .sprue and to vmove the bottom to release the blank. l

8. In a blank casting machine, 'a plurality of molds', a. mold carrier, movable sprue blocks carried by the carrier, means to actuate the molds Vto shear'the sprue from lthe blanks formed in the molds', -means to hold the sprue blocks against movement during shearing of the sprue, and means to move the' blocks to release thereof. 1 i

' 9.'In 'a blank casting machine, a carrier, movable moldsy carried by the carrier, sprue `means carried by the carrier, and means to move the molds to shear the sprue.

10. In a blank casting machine, a carrier having sprue means, movable molds carried by the carrier, movable bottoms for the molds, and meansy to move the moldsto shear` the sprue and to subsequently move the bottoms to release the blanks. i

In testimonywhereof, I affix my signature.-

RICHARD T. MCGEE.

the sprue after shearing' y 

